Harbin Description

Harbin is the capital city of Heilongjiang province, China's most North-easterly province.
The province has a population of 40+ million and Harbin's population is officially 16 million
with over 6 million living in the city center, making Harbin one of China's 10 largest cities.
As the Province's largest city and capital, Harbin's economy is largely white collar,
servicing the primarily agricultural and heavy industry bases of the rest of the province.
Harbin is a more traditional city than the major cities of southern China since it has not
been westernized as much. However, Harbin is a more developed city than most westerners
expect of China. Anything that you would expect to find in stores, in the West, can usually
be found here. In general the only exceptions are some particular brand names.
Harbin has most forms of entertainment and sporting locations. However western activities
such as squash, swimming, or bowling are expensive by local standards. Most Chinese parties
or celebrations are held in restaurants, which often have private rooms with karaoke.
Some western-style bars/clubs are available but they also tend to come with western prices.
There is no shortage of movies to watch. All of the latest movies are available by buying
cheap DVDs or via download/streaming.
As a northern city, Harbin has similar weather to the Canadian Prairies or American Midwest.
The summer is usually 20 to 35 C and the winter -10 to -30 C. During the winter, Harbin has
an ice festival which is the city's most well-known tourist attraction.
Westerners are not common in Harbin. There are usually about 300-400 westerners here with
about half being students. There are also usually several hundred Russians in town on
shopping trips. Therefore, non-Chinese tend to stand out in a crowd. If you are shy to
be noticed, Harbin is not the place for you.

Cost of Living
The average income in Harbin is about 1,500 RMB and the cost of living is lower than other
cities. Therefore most people earning 2,000 consider it to be a good income. For food
and basic shopping, a person can live comfortably on 1,000. However, most foreigners
spend more than that because they tend to buy more imported goods and eat more frequently
in restaurants including McDonalds, Pizza Hut and KFC. Therefore, if you want to save money for
travel or to send back home, you should be able to save a good portion of your salary,
depending on how native you want to live.
A sample of costs, in RMB: average restaurant meal 30-50/person, bottle of beer 2 in shops,
5-10 in restaurants, 20 in bars, bus fare 1-2, taxi 9 first 3 km (15 or less to most places), overnight sleeper
train to Beijing 400, 500 express daytime train. Clothes are much cheaper than
in the west and there are great tailors too.

What to Bring
If you are coming to Harbin to live, below is a list of things that are hard to find here.
Like most of China, Harbin is quickly developing its stock of Western products and services.
Therefore, some of the things on the list may have recently become more available. You can see
that the list is mostly minor things.

Anti-perspirant (limited brands)

Fitted sheets (available on line)

Good shoes (large sizes are rare, prices are similar to home, quality often low)

Certain brand names

Certain medications

Good quality socks

English books or novels (all the clasics are available. Otherwise use e-books)

Mandarin phrase book (dictionaries available but travel phrase books rare)

A laptop (they are often a bit more expensive than in the west)

What Not to Bring

A lot of books: bring only a few, they are heavy. We have a small library of
books and novels and many free e--books are available to download.

Full desk-top computer: too bulky. If you are planning on staying for a while, you could
leave your monitor and case at home and only pack the internal cards. A new case and used monitor
will have you up and running here at little cost. You can also buy a full system here for about the same
price as in North America.

Tons of clothes: Most foreigners buy so many clothes here, due to low prices, that they
end up leaving nearly everything they brought with them, when they go home.

110 Volt Electronic equipment: the power is 220 and power converters usually don't last. As a result, you will burn out your equipment.
Besides, electronics are usually cheap here. If you have a equipment that uses an adapter, you can buy a new adapter here that will convert directly from
the 220 to your appliance requirements. Note: Laptops, cameras, and video cameras usually accept both 110 and 220.

Apartment supplies: kitchen supplies etc. are available cheaply.

Things that would be illegal: drugs, pornography, etc.

Things for distribution: bringing religious or political material, that the
government might disagree with, should not be a problem as long as you are not bringing quantities to distribute.

Meats, vegetables etc. that would break quarantine laws.

Pets: the time, money, and paperwork required to bring an animal into China are extensive.

Money and Banking
Do not plan on using your bank card or credit cards in Harbin. Although a few of the large hotels
accept credit cards, most places do not. However, the credit cards may come in handy if you visit southern cites. There is one bank where you can make
withdrawls using your bank card but deposits are not permitted.

You should arrange to have internet access to your accounts so that if you need access you can access them that way.
If you are working with Will-Excel Global, we are able to assist you with your banking needs since we have accounts in Canada as well as China.
Western Union is also available to send cash back home if you need to.

You should bring US$ cash if you want the best exchange rates. Japanese yen and HK$ also get a good exchange,
other currencies can be exchanged but will get a lower rate. Likewise, traveler's cheques will also yield a lower rate.